Formation and emplacement of the Northland ophiolite, northern New Zealand: SW Pacific tectonic implications

Petrological, geochemical, geochronological and palaeomagnetic data for rocks of the Northland ophiolite terrane of northern New Zealand suggest that it formed in a suprasubduction-zone setting between c. 29 and 26 Ma, at c. 35°S, close to its Late Oligocene obduction site. Cretaceous igneous rocks formerly considered to be part of the ophiolite probably represent the basement upon which the ophiolite was emplaced, and are probably part of the Mount Camel arc-related terrane. The ophiolite is believed to have been generated in the southeastern South Fiji Basin, close to a NW-SE-oriented transform fault located to the SW of the Vening Meinesz Fracture Zone, and was probably emplaced in response to the collision of the Hikurangi Plateau with eastern New Zealand at the end of the Oligocene. This collision would have involved a major adjustment on the transform fault, thereby allowing a portion of the upper-crustal section of the southern South Fiji Basin to be emplaced southwestward onto northern New Zealand as well as the coeval emplacement of the East Cape Allochthon to the south. Concomitant subduction of the lower crust-mantle section led to the initiation of are volcanism that resulted in the Northland Lower Miocene volcanic-plutonic suite.published_or_final_versio

Basalts erupted along the Tongan fore-arc during subduction initiation: evidence from geochronology of dredged rocks from the Tonga fore-arc and trench

A wide variety of different rock types were dredged from the Tonga fore arc and trench between 8000 and 3000 m water depths by the 1996 Boomerang voyage. 40Ar-39Ar whole rock and U-Pb zircon dating suggest that these fore arc rocks were erupted episodically from the Cretaceous to the Pliocene (102 to 2 Ma). The geochemistry suggests that MOR-type basalts and dolerites were erupted in the Cretaceous, that island arc tholeiites were erupted in the Eocene and that back arc basin and island arc tholeiite and boninite were erupted episodically after this time. The ages generally become younger northward suggesting that fore arc crust was created in the south at around 48–52 Ma and was extended northward between 35 and 28 Ma, between 9 and 15 Ma and continuing to the present-day. The episodic formation of the fore arc crust suggested by this data is very different to existing models for fore arc formation based on the Bonin-Marianas arc. The Bonin-Marianas based models postulate that the basaltic fore arc rocks were created between 52 and 49 Ma at the beginning of subduction above a rapidly foundering west-dipping slab. Instead a model where the 52 Ma basalts that are presently in a fore arc position were created in the arc-back arc transition behind the 57–35 Ma Loyalty-Three Kings arc and placed into a fore arc setting after arc reversal following the start of collision with New Caledonia is proposed for the oldest rocks in Tonga. This is followed by growth of the fore arc northward with continued eruption of back arc and boninitic magmas after that time

Subduction initiation and back-arc opening north of Neo-Tethys: Evidence from the Late Cretaceous Torbat-e-Heydarieh ophiolite of NE Iran

How new subduction zones form is an ongoing scientific question with key implications for our understanding of how this process influences the behavior of the overriding plate. Here we focus on the effects of a Late Cretaceous subduction-initiation (SI) event in Iran and show how SI caused enough extension to open a back-arc basin in NE Iran. The Late Cretaceous Torbat-e-Heydarieh ophiolite (THO) is well exposed as part of the Sabzevar-Torbat-e-Heydarieh ophiolite belt. It is dominated by mantle peridotite, with a thin crustal sequence. The THO mantle sequence consists of harzburgite, clinopyroxene-harzburgite, plagioclase lherzolite, impregnated lherzolite, and dunite. Spinel in THO mantle peridotites show variable Cr# (10−63), similar to both abyssal and fore-arc peridotites. The igneous rocks (gabbros and dikes intruding mantle peridotite, pillowed and massive lavas, amphibole gabbros, plagiogranites and associated diorites, and diabase dikes) display rare earth element patterns similar to MORB, arc tholeiite and back-arc basin basalt. Zircons from six samples, including plagiogranites and dikes within mantle peridotite, yield U-Pb ages of ca. 99−92 Ma, indicating that the THO formed during the Late Cretaceous and was magmatically active for ∼7 m.y. THO igneous rocks have variable εNd(t) of +5.7 to +8.2 and εHf(t) ranging from +14.9 to +21.5; zircons have εHf(t) of +8.1 to +18.5. These isotopic compositions indicate that the THO rocks were derived from an isotopically depleted mantle source similar to that of the Indian Ocean, which was slightly affected by the recycling of subducted sediments. We conclude that the THO and other Sabzevar-Torbat-e-Heydarieh ophiolites formed in a back-arc basin well to the north of the Late Cretaceous fore-arc, now represented by the Zagros ophiolites, testifying that a broad region of Iran was affected by upper-plate extension accompanying Late Cretaceous subduction initiation

Magnesium and Silicon Isotopes in HASP Glasses from Apollo 16 Lunar Soil 61241

The high-Al (>28 wt %), silica-poor (<45 wt %) (HASP) feldspathic glasses of Apollo 16 are widely regarded as the evaporative residues of impacts in the lunar regolith [1-3]. By virtue of their small size, apparent homogeneity, and high inferred formation temperatures, the HASP glasses appear to be good samples in which to study fractionation processes that may accompany open system evaporation. Calculations suggest that HASP glasses with present-day Al2O3 concentrations of up to 40 wt% may have lost 19 wt% of their original masses, calculated as the oxides of iron and silicon, via evaporation [4]. We report Mg and Si isotope abundances in 10 HASP glasses and 2 impact-glass spherules from a 64-105 m grain-size fraction taken from Apollo 16 soil sample 61241

Subduction initiation and ophiolite crust: new insights from IODP drilling

International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 352 recovered a high-fidelity record of volcanism related to subduction initiation in the Bonin fore-arc. Two sites (U1440 and U1441) located in deep water nearer to the trench recovered basalts and related rocks; two sites (U1439 and U1442) located in shallower water further from the trench recovered boninites and related rocks. Drilling in both areas ended in dolerites inferred to be sheeted intrusive rocks. The basalts apparently erupted immediately after subduction initiation and have compositions similar to those of the most depleted basalts generated by rapid sea-floor spreading at mid-ocean ridges, with little or no slab input. Subsequent melting to generate boninites involved more depleted mantle and hotter and deeper subducted components as subduction progressed and volcanism migrated away from the trench. This volcanic sequence is akin to that recorded by many ophiolites, supporting a direct link between subduction initiation, fore-arc spreading, and ophiolite genesis

A reappraisal of explosive–effusive silicic eruption dynamics: syn-eruptive assembly of lava from the products of cryptic fragmentation

Silicic volcanic eruptions range in style from gently effusive to highly explosive, and may switch style unpredictably during a single eruption. Direct observations of subaerial rhyolitic eruptions (Chaiten 2008, Cordón Caulle 2011–2012, Chile) challenged long-standing paradigms of explosive and effusive eruptive styles and led to the formulation of new models of hybrid activity. However, the processes that govern such hybrid explosive–effusive activity remain poorly understood. Here, we bring together observations of the well-studied 2011–2012 Cordón Caulle eruption with new textural and petrologic data on erupted products, and video and still imagery of the eruption. We infer that all of the activity – explosive, effusive, and hybrid – was fed by explosive fragmentation at depth, and that effusive behaviour arose from sticking and sintering, in the shallow vent region, of the clastic products of deeper, cryptic fragmentation. We use a scaling approach to determine that there is sufficient time available, during emplacement, for diffusive pyroclast degassing and sintering to produce a degassed plug that occludes the shallow conduit, feeding clastogenic, apparently effusive, lava-like deposits. Based on evidence from Cordón Caulle, and from other similar eruptions, we further argue that hybrid explosive–effusive activity is driven by episodic gas-fracking of the occluding lava plug, fed by the underlying pressurized ash- and pyroclast-laden region. The presence of a pressurized pocket of ash-laden gas within the conduit provides a mechanism for generation of harmonic tremor, and for syn-eruptive laccolith intrusion, both of which were features of the Cordón Caulle eruption. We conclude that the cryptic fragmentation models is more consistent with available evidence than the prevailing model for effusion of silicic lava that assume coherent non-fragmental rise of magma from depth to the surface without wholesale explosive fragmentation

Silicic conduits as supersized tuffisites:Clastogenic influences on shifting eruption styles at Cordón Caulle volcano (Chile)

Understanding the processes that drive explosive-effusive transitions during large silicic eruptions is crucial to hazard mitigation. Conduit models usually treat magma ascent and degassing as a gradual, unidirectional progression from bubble nucleation through magmatic fragmentation. However, there is growing evidence for the importance of bi-directional clastogenic processes that sinter fragmented materials into coherent clastogenic magmas. Bombs that were ejected immediately before the first emergence of lava in the 2011–2012 eruption at Cordón Caulle volcano (Chile) are texturally heterogeneous composite assemblages of welded pyroclastic material. Although diverse in density and appearance, SEM and X-ray tomographic analysis show them all to have been formed by multi-generational viscous sintering of fine ash. Sintering created discrete clasts ranging from obsidian to pumice and formed a pervasive clast-supporting matrix that assembled these clasts into a conduit-sealing plug. An evaluation of sintering timescales reveals texturally disparate bomb components to represent only minutes of difference in residence time within the conduit. Permeability modelling indicates that the plug was an effective conduit seal, with outgassing potential—even from high-porosity regions—being limited by the inability of gas to flow across tendrils of densely sintered inter-clast matrix. Contrary to traditional perspectives, declining expressions of explosivity at the surface need not be preceded or accompanied by a decline in fragmentation efficiency. Instead, they result from tips in balance between the opposing processes of fragmentation and sintering that occur in countless cycles within volcanic conduits. These processes may be particularly enhanced at silicic fissure volcanoes, which have laterally extensive subsurface plumbing systems that require complex magma ascent pathways. The textures investigated here reveal the processes occurring within silicic fissures to be phenomenologically identical to those that have been inferred to occur in tuffisite veins: silicic conduits are essentially supersized examples of edifice-penetrating tuffisites

Behavioral correlations across activity, mating, exploration, aggression, and antipredator contexts in the European house cricket, Acheta domesticus

Recently, there has been increasing interest in behavioral syndrome research across a range of taxa. Behavioral syndromes are suites of correlated behaviors that are expressed either within a given behavioral context (e. g., mating) or between different contexts (e. g., foraging and mating). Syndrome research holds profound implications for animal behavior as it promotes a holistic view in which seemingly autonomous behaviors may not evolve independently, but as a "suite" or "package." We tested whether laboratory-reared male and female European house crickets, Acheta domesticus, exhibited behavioral syndromes by quantifying individual differences in activity, exploration, mate attraction, aggressiveness, and antipredator behavior. To our knowledge, our study is the first to consider such a breadth of behavioral traits in one organism using the syndrome framework. We found positive correlations across mating, exploratory, and antipredatory contexts, but not aggression and general activity. These behavioral differences were not correlated with body size or condition, although age explained some of the variation in motivation to mate. We suggest that these across-context correlations represent a boldness syndrome as individual risk-taking and exploration was central to across-context mating and antipredation correlations in both sexes. © Springer-Verlag 2009

Magmatism, serpentinization and life: Insights through drilling the Atlantis Massif (IODP Expedition 357)

IODP Expedition 357 used two seabed drills to core 17 shallow holes at 9 sites across Atlantis Massif ocean core complex (Mid-Atlantic Ridge 30°N). The goals of this expedition were to investigate serpentinization processes and microbial activity in the shallow subsurface of highly altered ultramafic and mafic sequences that have been uplifted to the seafloor along a major detachment fault zone. More than 57 m of core were recovered, with borehole penetration ranging from 1.3 to 16.4 meters below seafloor, and core recovery as high as 75% of total penetration in one borehole. The cores show highly heterogeneous rock types and alteration associated with changes in bulk rock chemistry that reflect multiple phases of magmatism, fluid-rock interaction and mass transfer within the detachment fault zone. Recovered ultramafic rocks are dominated by pervasively serpentinized harzburgite with intervals of serpentinized dunite and minor pyroxenite veins; gabbroic rocks occur as melt impregnations and veins. Dolerite intrusions and basaltic rocks represent the latest magmatic activity. The proportion of mafic rocks is volumetrically less than the amount of mafic rocks recovered previously by drilling the central dome of Atlantis Massif at IODP Site U1309. This suggests a different mode of melt accumulation in the mantle peridotites at the ridge-transform intersection and/or a tectonic transposition of rock types within a complex detachment fault zone. The cores revealed a high degree of serpentinization and metasomatic alteration dominated by talc-amphibole-chlorite overprinting. Metasomatism is most prevalent at contacts between ultramafic and mafic domains (gabbroic and/or doleritic intrusions) and points to channeled fluid flow and silica mobility during exhumation along the detachment fault. The presence of the mafic lenses within the serpentinites and their alteration to mechanically weak talc, serpentine and chlorite may also be critical in the development of the detachment fault zone and may aid in continued unroofing of the upper mantle peridotite/gabbro sequences. New technologies were also developed for the seabed drills to enable biogeochemical and microbiological characterization of the environment. An in situ sensor package and water sampling system recorded real-time variations in dissolved methane, oxygen, pH, oxidation reduction potential (Eh), and temperature and during drilling and sampled bottom water after drilling. Systematic excursions in these parameters together with elevated hydrogen and methane concentrations in post-drilling fluids provide evidence for active serpentinization at all sites. In addition, chemical tracers were delivered into the drilling fluids for contamination testing, and a borehole plug system was successfully deployed at some sites for future fluid sampling. A major achievement of IODP Expedition 357 was to obtain microbiological samples along a west–east profile, which will provide a better understanding of how microbial communities evolve as ultramafic and mafic rocks are altered and emplaced on the seafloor. Strict sampling handling protocols allowed for very low limits of microbial cell detection, and our results show that the Atlantis Massif subsurface contains a relatively low density of microbial life